


That's when you'll find me

by rosemary22



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Artist Grantaire, Brazilian Courfeyrac, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enjolras Is Bad At Feelings, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Multiple times, Non-Binary Grantaire, Non-Binary Jean Prouvaire, Oblivious Enjolras, Pining Grantaire, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Smoking, Trans Enjolras, You Have Been Warned, bahorel/feuilly - Freeform, i hint at jehanparnasse but i'm not sure imma Do that tm, j/b/m obvs, like really bad, listen this is going to be very slow and enjolras is a dumbass who has never done feelings, marieposette, not really enemies, there's also: courferre, they use words like fuck and shit, very slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-08-01 18:45:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16289798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosemary22/pseuds/rosemary22
Summary: Enjolras and Grantaire don't meet in the best circumstances; they don't meet in the best moment of their lives. But maybe they meet exactly when they're supposed to."Right place, right time" doesn't mean things are easy."If ever your world starts crashing downWhenever your world starts crashing downWhenever your world starts crashing downThat's when you'll find me."OneRepublic - All Fall Down





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> as i stated in a post, this is it. this is the fic. i'm posting it. i hope you like it.  
> tags will be added in case they're needed. there'll be some trigger warnings at the beginning of some chapters, so keep an eye out for that!
> 
> this fic has been betad (betaed?? idk) by the most amazing, brilliant and iconic @maurice-1987 on tumblr (@deadcourf here i think)  
> hmu on tumblr dot com @whensunscollide if u want c: also pls consider buying me a coffee: ko-fi.com/playlandi

The first time they had met, Enjolras had had a big fight with his parents and had run away. He hadn’t noticed that he had company until the other guy spoke up.  

“Are you sure you’re at the right stop?” Enjolras looked up to see the other man’s face and narrowed his eyes. “You’ve been here for hours; the last bus is going to be here at any minute…” The guy put his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. “Are you okay? Do you need any help? Are you lost or someth—”

“I’m fine.” Enjolras cut him off. “Not lost, not planning to take the bus.” His voice wasn’t shaking as he had expected it to be.

“So you’re just planning to spend the whole night here at the bus stop?” The guy asked, frowning. Enjolras shrugged. “That’s not very sensible.” He sighed. “Don’t you have a friend who can pick you up or something?”

“My battery died.”

The guy let out another sigh at Enjolras’ response.

“Here, use mine. Just make it quick so I won’t miss the bus, ok?” He handed out his phone to Enjolras, who blinked in confusion, but took it nonetheless.

Enjolras dialed Combeferre’s number and put the phone next to his ear. His friend didn’t take long at all to pick the call up.

“Where are you? Are you ok?” Combeferre asked quickly, sounding both angry and worried. Enjolras half smiled.

“I’m ok. My battery died, a guy lent me his phone… I’m at the bus stop next to that book shop you like, can you come get me?” He didn’t bother explaining himself, he didn’t want to. At least not under the gaze of the owner of cellphone, anyway. He heard Combeferre sighing on the other side and wondered why everyone was doing that to him that day.

“I’ll be there in twelve minutes.” Combeferre replied with his _‘you’re in great trouble, kid’_ voice.

Enjolras ended the call and handed the phone back to its owner.

“Thanks.” The guy nodded and turned his back to Enjolras.

They stayed silent for a few more minutes, until the bus arrived. The guy hopped up onto it, turned back to Enjolras and said, “Take care, Apollo.”

“That’s not my—” He tried to correct the guy, but the bus was gone before he could finish the sentence. Combeferre arrived not too long after that.

Enjolras got into Combeferre’s car without saying a word. Combeferre drove them both to his apartment in silence, knowing better than to start an argument with Enjolras in the middle of the street.

When they got to Combeferre’s, Enjolras was greeted by Courfeyrac with a really tight hug and that broke him completely.

“We were so worried,” Courfeyrac said, holding him. “Don’t you ever do that again, Enj.” He didn’t bother actually trying to scold Enjolras.

“Sorry…” Enjolras’ voice was low. Combeferre joined the hug. “I don’t want to go back,” he muttered and his friends hugged him tighter.

“You can stay with us for as long as you need to, ok?” Combeferre kissed the back of Enjolras’ head.

“Thanks.”

 

***

 

The second time they met was by accident and only two months after their first meeting. Enjolras and Combeferre had decided to go pay a visit to the bookshop that Combeferre liked.

They both entered the shop and started shuffling around, not really looking for anything specific.

“Hello, can I help you with something?” someone asked them. Then, “Apollo, nice to see you again.”

Enjolras quickly turned around to face whoever was talking to him, frowning at the nickname.

“That’s not my name,” he snapped back. The guy who had spoken smiled.

Combeferre put a hand on Enjolras’ shoulder and smiled at the familiar stranger. “We’re good, thanks,” he said and the guy nodded.

“Let me know if you need any help,” the guy answered. He then left them, going into the backroom.

Enjolras didn’t wait for Combeferre to ask. “That’s the guy who lent me his phone.”

He didn’t have to look at his friend to know Combeferre was curious about what had just happened. Enjolras knew Combeferre well enough.

“I didn’t know he worked here. That explains how he knew for how long I was at the stop,” Enjolras said, more to himself than to Combeferre.

The two of them went back to browsing the shelves, grabbing a few that interested them. It didn’t take them too long to pick up all the books they wanted and go to the counter to pay.

The book store was small, but had both new and second-hand books. It also sold a few second-hand CDs, DVDs, and comics. It was Combeferre’s personal paradise; Courfeyrac had also grown to love that place.

The person behind the counter smiled when saw them. “Ferre! It’s been a while, how are you doing?”

“Yeah, life was a little crazy for a while, but I believe everything is settled now. How have you been?” Combeferre smiled brightly and looked at Enjolras. “Enjolras, Jehan. Jehan, Enjolras. Them and their family own the place.”

Jehan reached out for Enjolras’ hand. “Kind of is a better way to put it. Nice to finally meet you in person, Enjolras. Ferre and Courf always talk about you when they come by.” They shook hands; Enjolras smiled back at them. “I’m fine. Things were slow a few months ago, but they’re getting better. How is Courf doing?”

“He’s fine. He wanted to come with us, but he had a paper to write, so…” Combeferre explained and handed Jehan the books he had picked up. “Are there any good recs this month?”

Jehan carefully inspected the books Combeferre had picked up and started writing down their prices.

“Not really. We did get a lot of new stuff, but we sold everything out pretty quickly.” They frowned at the paper. “We did buy the original version of Cosmos, but I think it’s reserved for someone. I can check if you’d like me to.”

Jehan looked up and handed the paper to Combeferre, who read it, got the exact amount of money from his wallet and gave it to Jehan.

“It’s ok. I already have that edition back at home. Plus Courfeyrac would make too much fun of me if I went home with another edition of a Carl Sagan book.” He answered, laughing. Jehan giggled and reached out to get the books Enjolras was holding. “How is Cosette doing? It’s been a while since I last saw her.”

Jehan frowned at a specific book and examined it closer. They looked at Enjolras, then at the book, then back to Enjolras, and then nodded before going for another book from the pile.

“I’m sorry, what was the question?” they asked and looked at Combeferre. “Oh, yes, Cosette.” Jehan smiled. “She’s happy.” They handed the paper to Enjolras and looked at him. “I’m not charging you for this one, by the way.” Jehan tapped at the book that made them frown. “Don’t ask.”

Enjolras nodded and gave them the amount that was written down in the piece of paper.

“You’re not taking anything for Courfeyrac?” they asked, tilting their head slightly to the right.

Combeferre laughed. “He would kill me if I took his excuse to come and see you from him.” He replied; Jean smiled and rolled their eyes.

“None of you need an excuse to come see me, Ferre. You can just come by anytime. Or we can go out.” Their eyes wandered between the two men in front of them until they settled on Enjolras. Jehan smiled wider. “Are you interested in slam poetry? A friend and I are going to perform in a festival a few weeks from now. You three should come.”

Enjolras smiled back and nodded. “I’m already looking forward to it. Ferre might have mentioned that you’re an extremely talented poet.”

“Combeferre exaggerates when he talks about his friends’ deeds.” Jehan laughed.

“No I don’t. I honestly believe everything I say.” Combeferre laughed and Jehan rolled their eyes. “Jehan, it was lovely to see you, as always, but Enjolras and I have to go. Courf is waiting for us because we’re going out for lunch.” Jehan nodded and waved at them. “Give Cosette a hug for me, ok?”

“Nice to meet you, Jehan,” Enjolras said and waved back.

“Come back more often you two. Even if it’s just to chat for a little bit,” they said when Enjolras and Combeferre were already on their way out of the store.

Enjolras couldn’t help thinking that it was weird that the guy who called him Apollo hadn’t returned from out of the backroom after they interacted.

It became quite a habit for Enjolras to go to the store at least once a week. Sometimes he would go there only to talk to Jehan. And every time he did go, the guy would either vanish to the backroom or not be there at all. Enjolras had met Cosette and they had gotten on well instantly. Enjolras suspected that it was absolutely impossible not to get on well with Cosette, which was confirmed by Combeferre and Courfeyrac after he mentioned his theory to them.

“Cosette is the embodiment of kindness and everything good with this world. If she doesn’t get on well with you it’s an indication that you’re the biggest asshole ever in the universe,”  Courfeyrac had said to Enjolras. "She would probably treat Trump politely… _Trump!_ Or Bolsonaro, the Brazilian version of Trump, as I like to call him.” Courfeyrac had hesitated for a second. “No… He’s worse than Trump. Really worse than Trump. That’s beside the point. Ok, maybe not Bolsonaro… But what I mean is that Cosette is a blessing,” he had said.

Combeferre had been less explicit about it.

“She is probably the most lovable person I know,” he had said with a smile. “I just wouldn’t like to get on her bad side ever.” Combeferre had laughed lightly after that statement and changed the subject.

The three of them made it a habit to go watch Jehan’s sessions of slam poetry. Which was how they got introduced to Éponine and Marius, Cosette’s partners. They also met a few other people, but—and not that Enjolras had noticed it, which he totally had, but wouldn’t admit— not the unknown guy from Jehan’s bookstore.

Enjolras even found out that Bahorel and his boyfriend, Feuilly, were friends with Jehan and the others. Enjolras and Bahorel had met at university before Bahorel dropped out of law school to try and pursue a career related to fashion. Feuilly he had met through Bahorel and had instantly clicked with, since they shared lots of interests and political views.

 

***

 

The third time they officially interacted it was raining. Enjolras had gone to Jehan’s book store just to chill, maybe talk to them or to Cosette, but he had forgotten his umbrella. When he got to the shop he was soaking wet.

“Welcome,” the guy greeted him and froze after actually looking at Enjolras. “What the fuck?”

“I don’t have an umbrella?” Enjolras said, tentatively. “I do, actually. I just didn’t think it would rain.”

Phone-guy sighed. “Ok, wait here,” he said and started walking towards the back room. “Don’t touch anything and don’t rob us, please,” he said before vanishing. Enjolras frowned, confused. Phone-guy got back quickly and tossed a towel and a hoodie to Enjolras. “You can dry your hair a bit and all and refrain from getting a cold.”

“There’s no need…” Enjolras’ expression softened a little bit. Phone-guy went back behind the counter, sat down, grabbed a book and started reading it.

Enjolras coughed. “Can I…?” He pointed at the backroom. Phone guy raised his eyes for a second and nodded before going back to reading his book.

Enjolras unbuttoned his shirt, dried himself a bit, as well and as quickly as he could, and changed into the clearly oversized hoodie. He hung the towel on the door handle and got back to the front of the store, holding his shirt close to his chest.

“Thanks.” Enjolras said, getting closer to the counter.

“No problem. You should hang your shirt so it dries.” Phone-guy stared at Enjolras, who shook his head.

“It’s okay, thank you.” He looked around. “Jehan and Cosette aren’t here today?” The other guy shook his head.

“Just me at the moment. Sorry to disappoint.” He smiled. “But feel free to do your thing.” Enjolras raised an eyebrow at that. “Usually when you’re here you grab a book to read and sit on random places. And it’s raining a lot, so it’s not a smart move to go right now.”

Phone-guy shrugged and got back to his book. Enjolras didn’t say another word, he just turned around and did as the other one had suggested. He grabbed a book, sat down on the floor, next to where he got the book from, and started reading.

Enjolras stayed there, reading, for quite a long time. He had the habit of forgetting the world around him when he focused on something specific and getting into whatever he was reading or doing.

A few chapters later he raised his eyes and saw the other guy standing next to him, organising books on the shelf. Enjolras grabbed the end of the other guy’s pants. “You never told me your name.”

“Well, you never asked.” The guy smirked. “Grantaire. Friends call me R.” He paused for a second. “You’re Enjolras.”

Enjolras nodded. Of course phone-guy—Grantaire, he corrected himself mentally—knew his name. And he felt incredibly rude for not having asked Grantaire such an important question before. Such thought led him to another important question he hadn’t asked; a question to which he had simply assumed the answer. “What are your pronouns?”

“He, him, his, I guess. I’m also comfortable with they, them, theirs. It depends, to be honest.” He shrugged, but Enjolras could see the question did matter to Grantaire. “I usually tell people beforehand when I’m not comfortable with he, him, his pronouns. Today it’s all swell.” Enjolras realised he was still holding Grantaire’s jeans.

He let go and stood up. Then he put the book exactly where he had taken it from—and he swore he had seen Grantaire smile a little brighter for a moment.

“You’re not going to ask mine?” Enjolras raised an eyebrow at Grantaire.

“No need, Jehan told me.” Grantaire placed the last book on the shelf. “I did my research, you know.” He joked; Enjolras bit his lower lip. “I just remembered I have an extra umbrella, so you can take one with you.” Enjolras nodded. “I’ll be at the counter if you need anything.”

Enjolras decided to check if they had anything new so he could ask Jehan to set aside to him so he could buy them when he had the money.

To be completely honest he was feeling terrible for not having asked Grantaire’s name and pronouns before, for just assuming Grantaire’s gender like he did. Ok, Enjolras had a lot going on in his life and his head was a complete mess when they had met, but still he felt guilty. It was even worse knowing that Grantaire himself had been careful enough to ask Jehan what Enjolras’ name and pronouns were.

The more Enjolras thought of that, the worse he felt. And also the less Grantaire’s carefulness seemed weird to him. After all, he _was_ the guy who had lent his phone to Enjolras, so he could call a friend and not spend the night alone on the street.

After a while, and not finding any new interesting books that he didn’t already have, he decided it was time to head back home. He wasn’t staying at Combeferre and Courfeyrac’s apartment anymore and he was honestly trying not to pick unnecessary fights with his parents. Also, for some reason, it didn’t seem right to stay there anymore since he felt like a huge asshole.

“About the extra umbrella…” he said approaching Grantaire.

“It’s in the back, I’ll get it for you.” Grantaire answered standing from the stool he was sat on. Enjolras grabbed his arm. Actually, Enjolras tried to grab his arm, he had aimed for the arm, but ended up grabbing Grantaire’s hand instead.

“Just tell me where it is and I can get it after I change.” He let go of R quickly, noticing how Grantaire’s expression had changed to something Enjolras took as a negative emotion. But he couldn’t help to notice how different their hands were.

Grantaire shook his head and put both of his hands in his pants’ pockets. “You can take the hoodie and bring it back with the umbrella some time. Your shirt must be all wrinkled anyway.” He stormed off to the back room of the store as soon as he finished talking.

Enjolras had noticed that everything on Grantaire was bigger than on him. Grantaire was a bit taller than Enjolras, backs and shoulders wider, fingers thicker and hands bigger too. He also had calluses on the tips of his fingers, Enjolras didn’t. Even Grantaire’s nails were longer than Enjolras’. But that was probably due to Enjolras’ bad habit of biting his nails when he was anxious about something.

He pretended not to notice it took R quite a while to return to the front of the store. Grantaire handed the umbrella to Enjolras. He seemed careful, even though he was smiling. Enjolras noticed R was holding the very end of the umbrella, probably to prevent their hands from touching again.

For some reason that bothered Enjolras.

“No rush in giving those back, ok?” Grantaire said and kept on smiling, but it didn’t seem to be an honest smile. Enjolras nodded.

“It was nice seeing you, Grantaire,” he said and offered a smile, too. “See you soon.”

Enjolras considered a handshake, but decided it was better just to nod and wave.

 

***

 

Enjolras wanted to hand back to Grantaire everything he had borrowed and wanted to do it personally, so he didn’t give it to anyone. But the next three times he went to the bookstore, Grantaire wasn’t there.

 

***

 

The fourth time Enjolras went to the store, he didn’t take Grantaire’s stuff. He just went there to get a book Jehan had recommended to Courfeyrac and Courf wasn’t going to be able to pick up himself.

Obviously, because the universe works the same way a trickster does, Grantaire was there that day.

“Enjolras, it’s been a while.” He greeted Enjolras with a smile. “I see you don’t have my stuff with you. Planning on keeping them?” Grantaire’s smile didn’t falter for a second. Enjolras frowned. “I’m just teasing. Jehan and Cosette told me you brought them here three times already.” R winked at him. “Besides, I told you not to worry about giving them back right away and I meant it.” Enjolras nodded. “Is there anything I can help you with today?”

“Courf was supposed to come get a book from Jehan, but something came up, so he asked me to come instead.” Enjolras explained. Grantaire nodded, still smiling; there was something about that smile that seemed off to Enjolras.

“Ok, Enj, dear, I love you and all, but tell Monsieur de Courfeyrac I am furious,” a voice said from behind Enjolras. He received a kiss on the cheek as soon as he faced the owner of the voice.

Enjolras laughed. “I’m pretty sure he will be, too, when he discovers you called him ‘de Courfeyrac’, Jehan,” he said and smiled.

Jehan chuckled. “He had it coming by ditching me twice. And even worse: ditching my books twice, Enj!” they said in a dramatic way, but didn’t stop smiling.

“Courf is going to your slam poetry thing this weekend, so you can personally tell him how furious you are.” Enjolras laughed when Jehan rolled their eyes in disbelief. “Our group was asked to talk at it, so he doesn’t have a choice. Trust me, he’ll be there.”

Jehan smiled. “Good, so he’ll have a taste of my fury and I’ll be able to gloriously kick his ass in person.” They grabbed Enjolras’ hands. “This group you mentioned… Bahorel told me about it. Cosette and I were wondering if we could go to one of your meetings.”

Enjolras nodded. “Of course! We’re always looking for more members. We usually meet at a place called the Musain. I think you know it, but I can send you all the information via text if you want me to.” He looked at Grantaire. “You’re welcome, too, if you’re interested.”

“To the social justice thing Bahorel keeps blabbering about? Sorry, not for me.” Grantaire shrugged.

“Why not? We’ve been discussing gender lately, maybe you’ll have something to add.” Enjolras sustained Grantaire’s gaze; Jehan giggled. “At least think about it? You can show up with Jehan and Cosette if you want to.” Grantaire shrugged and looked away.

“So what are you planning to talk about this weekend?” Jehan asked changing slightly the topic.

“We’ll talk about sexuality and LBGT+ rights. That’s what our last rally was about, so…” Enjolras replied, but didn’t stop looking at Grantaire. “Bahorel has an amazing speech ready on being not only bisexual, but also black.” He finally turned his head. Jehan was still holding his hands.

“Sound promising, we look forward to hearing all that!” they said, smiling. Enjolras heard Grantaire sigh. “Come on, R you promised you were going to watch me. Why not stay to listen to your other friends as well?”

“Yeah, sure. Sounds lovely, Jehan.”  Grantaire answered. Enjolras wasn’t looking at him, but he knew R’s expression at the moment wasn’t happy for his voice sounded profusely annoyed.

“Ok, I’m going to get the book. Behave, you two,” Jehan said and let go of Enjolras.

Enjolras wasn’t sure what to do. It was a fact that every single one of his interactions with Grantaire had been weird, since the first time they had met. But after him accidentally grabbing Grantaire’s hand, things had gotten weirder somehow. They hadn’t really met and now that they did there was this weird vibe...

Usually Enjolras would have just tried to small talk or to discuss a mutual interest. He was good at that; he had trained that skill a lot with his parents’ friends. But, for some reason, with Grantaire it wasn’t that easy.

They stayed quiet for a while. Enjolras tried to avoid looking at Grantaire the whole time, until he did and saw that Grantaire was looking at him. Enjolras broke the silence.

“Your working schedule is kind of weird,” he noted. Grantaire looked confused for a second and then smiled the same smile that Enjolras thought was weird.

“I was sick,” he said and shrugged. “So Jehan let me take some days off. They’re literally the best boss in the universe.” Grantaire put his hands in his hoodie’s pocket, Enjolras involuntarily frowned. “So the social justice thing you do… isn’t it tiring?”

“What do you mean?” Enjolras crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.

“I mean it must be tiring trying to educate and change the planet.” Grantaire shrugged. “From what Bahorel told me, you don’t just talk about topics and share stories. You organise rallies, protests, make fliers and all that. Sound exhausting to me, wasting time like that.”

Enjolras’ expression must have been hilarious because Grantaire chuckled.

“You can’t be serious,” Enjolras said. “Have you seen the world lately? We’re not _wasting_ our time, Grantaire. And we are making a difference one step at a time. Small changes and small victories lead us to bigger ones!” Enjolras tried not to raise his voice. There was no need to. “We do all that because we want the world to be a better place to live in. Because we believe we can change things if we’re united. Don’t you?”

Grantaire shrugged. Enjolras waited a while before talking again. “It isn’t easy and it can be frustrating when changes aren’t immediate, but it’s worth it. It’s not a waste of time.”

“If you say so…” Grantaire said and looked away. Enjolras took the hint not to continue.

He hesitated for a while.

“Are you feeling better?” Enjolras asked Grantaire frowned and looked back at Enjolras. “You were sick. Are you feeling better now?”

“Oh… Yeah, I am. Thanks for asking.” Enjolras could swear Grantaire had blushed for a second. Grantaire shrugged, grabbed a book from the counter and opened it. Enjolras bit the inside of his left cheek and understood all that as Grantaire not wanting to continue talking.

He examined the counter and the man behind it. The tall piece of furniture was actually a little bit messy. It had a few clearly unorganised piles of books, a pencil case, some pens scattered around, sticky notes, a calculator, some sheets of paper and a small notebook. Behind it, Grantaire was sitting on top of a tall wooden stool and a chair could be seen right beside him, on top of which was a dark green bag that looked somewhat full.

Enjolras’ eyes wandered to Grantaire. He looked at Grantaire’s messy curly hair that somehow actually looked good on him; he noticed that Grantaire’s eyes were light blue and that he had stubble. Then Enjolras looked at Grantaire’s hands, holding the book, and noticed that some of his nails were painted white and some not painted at all. Enjolras looked away, when Grantaire moved to turn the page, and grabbed his phone from pocket.

He actually didn’t know what to do, so he opened the Candy Crush app without even thinking about it and hoping Jehan would get back before his 5 lives ended. After a while he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up. “When I told you two to behave I didn’t mean _‘ignore each other’s presence completely’_ , you know…” Jehan smiled and handed Enjolras the book.

“We did talk,” Enjolras said smiling back and sliding his phone back into his pocket. “Thanks, Jehan. I’ll see you Saturday.” He looked at Grantaire. “I’ll take your stuff there.” Grantaire nodded. “See you then. Thanks for the chat. Take care.”

He left the bookstore without looking back and was certain that what had just happened had been the most awkward thing to ever happen to him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyyyy better late than not at all am i right? (idek man sdlkjals)  
> this chapter, as all chapters probably will be ??? not sure ??? a/w, was beta-ed by the amazing @maurice-1987 on tumblr (the one and only em <3 i love them so much, they're a fREAKIN' ANGEL!!!!!!!!) so thanks em i love u b
> 
> this fic will not have a decent uploading schedule i am so sorry in advance but i can't lie to yall aslkjslajs i just hope yall stick with me flsççldskaçd  
> BUT it WILL be finished  
> i just gotta coordinate: writing this fic + my klance fic, working (with teenagers yike dljlafçdds), psychology uni, the musical theatre course, em's availability for beta-ing the chapters, my youtube channel  
> so dslaç~fkslk  
> yeah 
> 
> if u wanna help me out with life and stuff, consider buying me a metaphorical coffee: ko-fi.com/playlandi :D
> 
> HERE WE GO:

Saturday was a busy day for the Amis. They watched Jehan perform, and as soon as Jehan left the stage, they left to organise themselves to speak later. Enjolras noticed he hadn’t seen Grantaire in the crowd, but stopped thinking about it when the Amis started discussing one last time what they had planned for the day.

Their speech was powerful and received a lot of applause. Bahorel spoke brilliantly and everyone seemed to enjoy it, so the Amis considered it a success. They all stepped off the stage and walked straight to where Jehan had been waiting. Cosette was with them.

“You were beautiful! Brilliant!” Jehan grabbed Bahorel’s hands and kissed them.  “All of you were,” they added, smiling.

“Thanks, Prouvaire.” Bahorel pulled them into a hug. “You were great too! None of us could as much as blink while you were talking earlier.”

“I’m glad you two stayed to watch us!” Enjolras smiled at Cosette and then at Jehan, who rolled their eyes, giggling as they maneuvered out of Bahorel’s embrace and headed in Enjolras’ direction.

They kissed Enjolras’ cheek, saying, “Grantaire’s with Musichetta, Éponine, and Marius, getting us all water.” Jehan turned to Courfeyrac. “And you, mister, owe me big time,” they laughed. Courfeyrac kissed Jehan’s hand. “You won’t seduce me into forgiving you, Courfeyrac!” 

Jehan giggled, but when Courfeyrac let go of their hand, they pulled him into a tight hug. Cosette and Jehan finished greeting everyone and they all engaged in a conversation about their plans for the evening. Joly suggested they went out to drink while Courfeyrac suggested they all gathered at his and Combeferre’s apartment.

“We brought water for everyone,” Marius said, approaching the group. “We bought so much water the people who were selling it gave us free bags to put the bottles inside.” He lifted the bags as proof. “Hi, everyone! You were amazing up there.”

“Oh, yeah, water is definitely what I need right now,” Bahorel said. Éponine threw a bottle to him. “Thanks.”

“I think you’re tired of hearing this, but you all honestly did great up there,” Musichetta said while handing bottles of water to Joly and Bossuet and giving each one a peck on the lips. “Bahorel got me seriously hyped with his speech.”

“Thanks, Chetta. Maybe next time you could come up with us?” Bahorel suggested. He look around the group for a moment, asking, “Is there a spare bottle?” Grantaire threw another bottle at him. “Thanks, dude.”

“We’d love to have you, Chetta! Weren’t you going to talk about feminism today?” Combeferre asked her. 

She smiled at him. “Yeah, with Cosette and Ponine. We ended up not having enough time to organise ourselves properly, so we missed the date to register.” Musichetta shrugged. “Next time we’re going to for sure.”

Combeferre smiled at her. “And we’ll certainly be here to support you.”

“While you were away, we decided we were all going over to our apartment to party a little bit,” Courfeyrac said, holding Combeferre’s hand. Combeferre hummed. Courfeyrac huffed, “Ok, so I suggested we do it, but we didn’t actually decide on anything yet.”

“Sounds good to me.” Feuilly said. Bahorel agreed.

“We’re going, too,” Bossuet added. “Partying is always our thing.”

“I’d love to go. What do you think?” Cosette asked, looking at her partners. Éponine and Marius nodded and she grabbed their hands.

“I’m obviously going,” Jehan said and looked at Grantaire, who just shrugged. “Enjolras?” they asked, still looking at Grantaire.

“Enj is coming,” Courfeyrac replied. “He was going to sleep in our apartment tonight anyway.”

“I have some stuff to do for tomorrow, so I guess I’m not…” Grantaire started, but Joly interrupted him.

“Oh, come on, R. It’s been ages since we’ve hung out. You’ve been so busy lately. Come hang with your friends for one night!” he said. Grantaire frowned, but shrugged. Joly smiled. “Yeah! It’ll be fun, you’ll see.”

“So, do you all want to go now or…?” Courfeyrac asked.

“We could go now because some of us are going to go by public transport,” Feuilly said. Courfeyrac nodded.

“I have three places open in my car,” Combeferre offered.

“Can we go with you? My knees are killing me and it would be amazing not to have to catch a bus,” Joly asked and Combeferre nodded immediately. “Thank you, Ferre.”

It was Marius’ turn to offer. “There are two spots left in my car.” Grantaire opened his mouth to snag a spot, but Bahorel was quicker than him.

“Feuilly and I would love to fill those two. He can surely guide the way,” he said and winked to Grantaire, who just rolled his eyes and chuckled. “You’ve got to be faster, R.”

“I graciously allowed you be faster to honour your marvellous speech today, Bahorel,” Grantaire smirked, his eyes light. “Don’t be ungrateful.” Bahorel laughed.

“Let’s get going, then?” Combeferre suggested. They all agreed and started walking. “We’ll meet there, then. Feuilly, if you need any help call Courf, ok?” Feuilly nodded.

The groups started walking in their respective directions. Jehan grabbed Enjolras’ and Grantaire’s hands and followed.

“Enj, you’re going to have to guide the way because I have never been to their apartment and Grantaire surely hasn’t either.” They smiled, and Enjolras smiled back.

“It’s actually pretty easy. We just have to wait a bit for the bus at a stop a few blocks from here,” he said, not looking at Jehan or at Grantaire. “You were amazing today, Jehan. I’m sorry we couldn’t meet you right after you finished.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I was a bit anxious at first, but R and Cosette helped me calming down and I honestly think I did well, which is always a good sign.” They rested their head on Grantaire’s left shoulder. “How long does it take to get there?”

“Maybe twenty minutes? Depends on traffic, honestly, but I think it’ll be twenty minutes, or half an hour if the bus takes too long to get to the stop,” Enjolras said and grabbed his phone from his pocket with his free hand. Jehan let go of his and Grantaire’s hands, who had been looking at his phone for a while. “The app said the traffic is good, so we should be fine.”

They all stayed silent the rest of the way to the bus stop. Jehan sat down, but Enjolras and Grantaire remained standing. Grantaire was next to Jehan, so they could rest their head against R’s body. Enjolras was near the street, keeping an eye on the traffic.

The bus didn’t take long and was, luckily, kind of empty. They hopped onto it and the three of them sat down. Grantaire put his headphones on and Jehan rolled their eyes before turning to strike up a conversation with Enjolras. The two of them discussed books they had read and loved.

Grantaire hadn’t said anything the whole way to the apartment; he hadn’t even opened his mouth. Enjolras thought that was weird, but also he didn’t really know Grantaire, so maybe he really was this quiet. To be fair, they hadn’t talked much in any of their previous interactions, so he wasn’t the expert on Grantaire’s natural state of being. Jehan hadn’t asked him to join the conversation at any moment, so maybe it really was Grantaire’s default mode. Regardless, his silence was still somewhat unsettling to Enjolras.

As soon as the trio got to the apartment, Enjolras went to the spare bedroom to put his bag there, but reminded himself that he had to give Grantaire his things back.

The apartment wasn’t very big, but it somehow could fit all of their friends. Cosette, Bossuet and Feuilly were in the kitchen with Courfeyrac and, judging by the smell, Enjolras guessed they were making frozen pizza. Marius, Joly, Combeferre and Jehan, who had recently joined them, were sat by the table, talking about a recent astronomical discovery that was apparently really exciting. Musichetta, Éponine, Bahorel and Grantaire were sitting on the couch and talking about fashion. Enjolras decided to join the group in the kitchen.

“Ok, so we’re thirteen. Each one eats two or three slices and each pizza has eight slices, so…” Courfeyrac tapped his fingers to his chin.

“Five pizzas will do,” Cosette said quickly. “And knowing everyone, even if there’s too much we won’t deny eating a bit more.”

“There’s no such thing as too much pizza,” Feuilly said, chuckling. “You could make ten pizzas and Bahorel, Grantaire and I alone would eat half of them just because. Guaranteed.” Courfeyrac laughed.

“Ok, so we’re making five and if anyone wants more, we’ll make more later.”

“Why do you have so many frozen pizzas anyway?” Bossuet asked and Enjolras laughed.

“I stay here a lot and we would always order pizza, but at some point it got too expensive and those were on sale, so Courf bought too many,” Enjolras explained. “Which was good because we did eat a lot, but I haven’t been spending the night much lately and they like cooking together, so they never eat frozen pizza when they’re alone.”

“And now we have a lot of pizza in our freezer and they’ll expire soon and we don’t want them to go to waste,” Courfeyrac confessed. “So maybe if you all want to take some packages with you, that would be a blessing and I’d love you forever, thank you very much.”

“You sure?” Bossuet asked. Courfeyrac nodded intensely and they all laughed. “Ok, I’ll talk to R later. He’ll definitely want some. Chetta and Joly are probably going to want some, too. How many more do you have?”

“Nine or ten more, I think? Not counting the ones we’re making today,” Courfeyrac said, getting the thing they would need to make the pizza. “Just leave one in case we feel lazy and decide to make it this week, but the rest you can take with you, my friend.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to everyone later then,” Bossuet said with a chuckle, taking five pizzas out of the freezer.

“I’m in charge of the oven, so you all can go talk to the others if you want to.” Feuilly put his hand on Courfeyrac’s shoulder.

Courf smiled. “Nah, chatting makes the time seem to go faster.”

 

The groups had dissolved and mixed up by now. Bossuet joined Joly, who was talking to Éponine. Enjolras sat on the couch next to Grantaire, who was looking at his phone. “Hi,” he said. Grantaire didn’t take his eyes from the phone when he greeted Enjolras back. After a while, Enjolras said, “I have your stuff with me.”

“So you really weren’t trying to steal them from me, Apollo?” Grantaire grinned and finally looked at Enjolras, who frowned. “I’m joking. You can give them to me later when I leave. I forgot to bring my bag, so I don’t have a place to put it all in right now.” 

Enjolras nodded. “So did you watch us talking today? Bahorel was amazing…” He bit the inside of his left cheek, waiting for Grantaire to reply.

“He really was. You weren’t that bad yourself, even though you were the one who talked the least.” Grantaire laughed. “You all even nearly managed to convince me that you can make a difference, so I guess that shows how good you are.”

“I don’t understand that… I mean, you said you go by neutral pronouns sometimes, which led me to believe that you’re a part of the LGBT+ community, and yet you don’t care…” Enjolras confessed.

“I’m also black, son of a mom who was a black, latina woman, and I’m bisexual. Might be pansexual, I’m not entirely sure,” Grantaire said, but that last part was mostly to himself. “It’s not about caring or about being queer or not, Apollo. It’s about not wasting my time with things that I can’t change”

“That’s not my name. ” Enjolras sighed. He tried to stop his mouth from its perpetual frowning, but quickly realized it wasn’t going to work. “I still don’t get it.”

“I know. You know I know.” Grantaire chuckled.  “Not everything has to make sense, I think? Sometimes we don’t understand some things and it’s okay. It doesn’t make you less smart or anything.” 

He was smiling. Enjolras liked that smile, it was a different the way Grantaire smiled when they were at the bookstore. Grantaire lifted a brow, asking, “Why can’t I call you Apollo? It suits you.”

“I don’t know. It just… sounds weird. And makes me a bit uncomfortable, I guess.” Enjolras threw his head back, wanting to be in any other conversation that this one.

“I’ll think of another mythological figure, then.” Grantaire copied Enjolras’ movements and kept looking at him. When he saw Enjolras’ frown deepen, he said, “Okay, no mythological figures then. What about historical ones? Biblical? Even though I consider the Bible mythological… Which makes me a heretic and grants me a seat in hell, I know, but, I mean… I’m not exactly the best example of a saint according to the Church, am I?” Grantaire grinned after Enjolras rolled his eyes again, but chuckled. “Okay, I’ll just call you Enjolras until we find a nickname you’re comfortable with.”

“Thanks.” Enjolras laughed and rolled his eyes again.

“I’ll go get a drink or something. Talk to you later. Don’t forget to give me my stuff before I go.” Grantaire stood up. Enjolras grabbed his hand, but immediately let go of it.

“Don’t forget to ask  _ me _ for your stuff before  _ you _ go,” he said without looking at Grantaire, who just started walking towards Joly, Éponine and Bossuet.

Enjolras closed his eyes for a second and sighed. Why did he even grab Grantaire’s hand? He didn’t know. And he regretted doing that profusely. He opened them when he felt someone sit down beside him.***

“Are you tired? Today was a long day.” Combeferre said and handed Enjolras a glass. “Orange juice.”

“Thanks. I’m a bit tired, yes… I’m going to sleep forever tired, not I need to sleep right now tired, though.” Enjolras took a sip. “Ferre, you go to Jehan and Cosette’s bookstore a lot, right?” Combeferre nodded and raised an eyebrow. “So you talk to Grantaire a lot, right?” Combeferre nodded again and took a sip of his juice. “Is he always so… Cynical, I guess?”

“R can be a complicated person sometimes, but he means well.” Combeferre chuckled. “Apart from the times he argues with you just because he likes antagonising people sometimes, of course.” Enjolras rolled his eyes. “He’s very smart and I don’t think he actually means all of the things he says, but that’s just my guess. Why?”

“I don’t know… We haven’t talked much, to be honest. He told me he thinks the ABC is pointless, but when we first met he seemed to worry about me, even though I was a complete stranger. He also lent me an umbrella and spare clothing once.” Enjolras sighed. “Someone who doesn’t care wouldn’t do that, I think…” Combeferre chuckled.

“Not caring and thinking the ABC is pointless are different things, you know. But what do you mean he lent you spare clothing?” Enjolras felt his face heat up a little.

“I was being reckless after a fight with my father once and went to the bookstore, but it was raining and I didn’t have an umbrella, that’s all. And it was just a hoodie. It’s not a big deal.” He looked away from Combeferre and took the glass to his mouth.

“If you say so.” Combeferre chuckled. “R is a great person. And he always has great book recs. You should ask him about it, since you’ve been going there a lot lately.” Enjolras nodded. “Just don’t go too hard on him. Like I said, R can be complicated sometimes. He’s got some issues of his own too, so…”

“Sure. Which one of us doesn’t, right?” Enjolras sighed and rested his head on Combeferre’s left shoulder. “I need a job as soon as possible.”

“You know you can stay here with us for as long as you need, right?” Combeferre took his hands to Enjolras’ hair. “And don’t give me the ‘I don’t want to bother you’ talk, you’re never bothering us. You’re always welcome here and you can help us out with chores until you find a job.”

“I know.” He closed his eyes.

“But you won’t stay.” Combeferre chuckled. “You’re too stubborn, Enjolras.”

“I know.” Enjolras chuckled too. They both stayed silent for a while; Combeferre running his fingers through Enjolras’ hair.

They had been friends forever and Enjolras really knew that Combeferre and Courfeyrac would never complain about having him around, but he truly didn’t feel comfortable staying at their apartment and not being able to help them financially. He also didn’t like the feeling that he had sometimes as if he was intruding on his friend’s relationship, so he preferred to only stay at their apartment for a long time when he absolutely needed to.

“Is he asleep?” Enjolras heard Courfeyrac asking, so he opened his eyes. “I brought you both pizza.” Courfeyrac handed them plates with two slices each. “You can go to bed if you’re tired, Enj, no one’s going to mind.” Enjolras shook his head.

“I’m fine, but thanks. You know, you two don’t have to worry so much about me.” Enjolras took a bite of one of his slices. Courfeyrac chuckled, kissed the top of Enjolras’ head and walked away. “Anyway, I need to find a job.”

“You could talk to Jehan. I think they mentioned something about wanting to hire someone else to help R out.” Combeferre suggested and Enjolras whined. “I’ll ask them if you don’t.”

“No, I’ll do it. It feels weird to approach them and just say ‘hello, please hire me’. I don’t know…” Enjolras sighed. “But, yes, I’ll talk to them later this week, ok?” It was Combeferre’s time to sigh, but he nodded anyway. “I’m going to go get more juice, do you want some?” Combeferre shook his head and thanked Enjolras.

As soon as Enjolras stood up, Courfeyrac sat down beside his boyfriend.

Enjolras was actually more tired than he had judged himself to be before. He yawned while pouring himself more orange juice. It was understandable that Courf and Ferre insisted on taking care of him because when he had a lot on his mind he had the tendency to sleep very little, but it did make him feel bad. Enjolras was capable of looking after himself, of course. But his life was a mess at that moment and everyone crosses some boundaries when their lives are as chaotic as Enjolras’ was.

Combeferre himself would skip meals and stay awake for too many hours if he had a really hard test to study to or a big and complicated essay to write or too many things to do for Les Amis de l’ABC. But whenever Enjolras brought that up he would get a ‘which is why I let my friends take care of me when I’m overstepping boundaries, Enj’ as an answer; which was only partially true because Combeferre was as stubborn as Enjolras.

Besides, Enjolras did let his friends take care of him; sometimes he just needed them to let him cope with things in his unhealthy way of working too much for a few days before accepting their help. Was that good? No, definitely no, but it worked in a way.

Enjolras sat down by Feuilly’s side at the table and spent the rest of the night talking to him.

They all stayed together until Marius, Cosette and Éponine said they had to leave, which was close to eleven pm. Bahorel and Feuilly left with them. Joly, Bossuet and Musichetta decided to leave shortly after that, so Jehan and Grantaire followed them.

“Wait, Grantaire, your stuff.” Enjolras said when they were all already leaving. “Hold on, let me get it.” He hesitated for a second. “Or I could take it to you at the bookstore on Monday? Since you’re already taking those pizzas home…” Grantaire laughed.

“You sure?” Enjolras nodded. “Thanks, that’d be great.” Grantaire smiled. “See you tomorrow, then.”

“Bye, guys. Take care. Let us know when you all get home.” Combeferre said. Everyone said their goodbyes and he closed the door.

“What stuff?” Courfeyrac asked, grinning.

“He lent me an umbrella a while ago and I never gave it back to him.” Enjolras shrugged, Courfeyrac hummed.

“Grantaire also lent him a hoodie because Enjolras was wet from the rain that day.” Combeferre said and Enjolras glared at him. “What? I thought you had said it wasn’t a big deal.”

“It isn’t!” Enjolras said and pouted, but quickly stopped because Courfeyrac had the ‘you are adorable when you pout’ look on his face. “It’s not a big deal. I forgot my umbrella, it was raining a lot, I got wet, he worried and lent me an extra umbrella he had and a spare hoodie, that’s all. You’re reading too much into the whole situation.”

“But you did fail to mention the hoodie.” Courfeyrac pointed out.

“We don’t even  _ talk _ , Courfeyrac. He was nice, I was cold so I accepted it and that’s it. We’ve talked three times and they weren’t even proper conversations. The longest time I talked to him it lasted about five minutes. Probably less, actually.” Enjolras rolled his eyes and turned his back to Courfeyrac. “I’m tired, I’m going to brush my teeth and then I’m going to sleep. Night, Courf. Night, Ferre.” He heard Courfeyrac laugh as he left the room.

Grantaire had lent him his hoodie, so what? It wasn’t a big deal. He didn’t even seem to be that interested in engaging in conversations with Enjolras, so it definitely wasn’t a big deal.

Enjolras fell asleep thinking about how Courfeyrac had a talent of getting under his skin sometimes.

***

Enjolras hated Courfeyrac.

Because it was definitely Courfeyrac’s fault that he was feeling weird about seeing Grantaire. Had Courf not made fun of him on Saturday, he wouldn’t be anxious about meeting Grantaire. But he was. And it was Courfeyrac’s fault. So he hated Courfeyrac.

There was absolutely no reason for him to feel like that. He didn’t even  _ know _ Grantaire. It was Courfeyrac’s fault.

Either way he had to go meet Grantaire, he couldn’t just not show up at all and ask Combeferre to hand them over, that would be weird. And it would make it seem like a big deal. Which it wasn’t. Enjolras hated Courfeyrac.

“Welcome.” Grantaire greeted him, as always. “Oh, it’s you.” He said and got back to his book. And Enjolras didn’t mind that. Because Enjolras didn’t care. Because it wasn’t a big deal.

“I brought your stuff.” Enjolras stepped closer to the counter and put the umbrella and the hoodie on top of it. “I washed and ironed the hoodie.” Grantaire looked up, smiled at him, that smile Enjolras didn’t particularly like, and thanked him. “Is Jehan here? I need to talk to them.”

“They’re in the back room.” Grantaire said and looked at his book again. “I’m sure they won’t mind you going in there.” Enjolras nodded and did that.

Enjolras knocked on the door and heard Jehan whine on the other side. “Come in.” They looked up from a notebook. “Enjolras, hi! I thought it was Cosette, I need her help with a thing, but she’s not back from lunch yet… I digress, how are you?”

“I’m fine, thanks, what about you?” Enjolras closed the door behind him and got closer to Jehan.

“Finances are a mess. We’ve been meaning to hire someone else to stay here, so R doesn’t have to do twice the work their paid for, but we would have to lower their salary a little bit for that. Not much and it was their idea, not ours, so they’re fine with it, but we’d rather not.” Jehan sighed and looked at the notebook again. “R works really hard, but our income in general is not that big. They deserve a salary twice as big as the one they get, and we don’t want to reduce that, so Cosette and I are trying to see if there’s a way of hiring someone else to help around here without paying Grantaire any less.” They looked up to Enjolras. “Sorry. You’re probably the last person I should be whining about this to.”

“Combeferre talked to you.” Enjolras chuckled; Jehan nodded and bit their lower lip. “It’s okay. He meant well, I know.”

“Sit down, Enj.” Jehan pointed at the chair. Enjolras did that. “Look, I can’t really talk to about money right now because we have to finish solving this whole thing first, but the work would consist in sharing chores with Grantaire. You could maybe come up with a schedule in which you both take turns on being at the counter, which includes handling the money and writing down all the things that were sold, and helping organising the books, which is basically cataloguing them, keeping them on their respective shelf, making sure we take them out of our system when they’re sold. Also adding new books to the list…” They took a deep breath. “By system I mean an Excel document, to be honest. We’re not very technological around here.” They both laughed. “Or maybe you two would talk and decide that it’s best if each one does just one thing and that’s it. I personally would prefer if you took turns, but I don’t know… You would have to learn both functions, of course, that is, I think, our only requirement.”

“Will I need to go through an interview or…” Enjolras asked.

“Not exactly. I mean, normally you would, but we already know you, so… I’ll have to talk to Cosette about this, but maybe it would be good for you to sit down and talk to R before we officially hire you just so you two can sort things out, you know? Decide how exactly you’re going to do things, that sort of stuff.” Cosette entered the room. “Yes! Perfect timing!”

“Hi, sorry it took me so long to get here. I had to sort some things out with Papa before coming back.” Enjolras started standing up to greet her. “No, it’s fine. Hi, Enj, how are you?”

“I’m fine. What about you?” He smiled at her and she laughed.

“I’m fine. I bet Jehan already told you about our borderline chaotic finances.” Enjolras nodded. “So, are you here about the job?” She grabbed a chair from across the room and carried it next to Jehan. “Combeferre mentioned to us.”

“I was telling him that since we know him maybe we won’t have to interview him and all of that terribly boring and annoying formal stuff, but that I had to talk to you first. What I suggested was Grantaire and Enjolras themselves talking about how they would share things before we officially hire Enj.” Jehan explained.

“Oh, yes. I hate that whole interviewing people drama.” She smiled and looked at Enjolras. “Of course, if you two decide one thing and then eventually realise it doesn’t work we can all sit down again and discuss it and maybe change things. It doesn’t have to be an absolutely fix schedule.” Jehan nodded. “And I’m sure Jehan already mentioned that we can’t really inform you exactly how much we can offer you as your payment, so in case you have some other job you want to apply to just let us know.”

“I actually didn’t have anything specific in mind when Ferre mentioned that you were thinking of hiring someone else, so…” Enjolras confessed.

“Ok. So as soon as we work out the digits we’ll let you know.” Jehan smiled and clapped their hands. “Now that was a way more effortless than I expected it to be.” They handed the notebook over to Cosette, who grabbed a red pen and started writing something down. “R and I are going to grab something to eat when Cosette and I are done here, would you like to join us, Enj?”

“I don’t want to bother you…” Jehan stood up and Enjolras did the same.

“You never bother us, love.” They smiled. “And it’ll be nice moment to tell Grantaire about the plans I think. I’ll just ask you to wait outside with him so Cosette and I can finish this as fast as possible.” Jehan opened the door for Enjolras, who nodded. “Thank you, Enj, you’re wonderful. If you want to sit just ask R to take his bag off the chair next to him, ok?”

Enjolras walked back to the front of the shop. That had gone way better than he had planned. He should probably thank Combeferre later.

“Hi.” Enjolras said and Grantaire looked up to him. Then Enjolras mentally face palmed himself because that was a terrible conversation starter, considering he had already talked to Grantaire only a few minutes before that. “You read a lot.”

“Does that surprise you?” Grantaire raised an eyebrow. Enjolras cursed himself mentally.

“No. But Combeferre told me you have really good recommendations and that I should ask them to you.” Enjolras tried to explain. “Jehan used they, them, their pronouns when talking about you today, so should I use those?” Grantaire still had that eyebrow raised.

“Combeferre, what a guy that Combeferre…” Grantaire grinned. “So you were talking about me back there?”

“No.” Enjolras answered quickly. Not too quickly, though, because it wasn’t a big deal. “They were talking about finances, actually.” Grantaire’s eyebrow was no longer raised and they sighed.

“Jehan worries too much. So does Cosette.” Grantaire closed his book. “Yes, those pronouns would be great today, thanks for asking.” Enjolras nodded. “You didn’t have to wash and iron my hoodie, you know.”

“I always do that when people lend me clothes, it’s not a big deal.” Enjolras answered and shrugged. “Jehan asked me to join you during lunch today. Is that okay?” Grantaire frowned.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” They grabbed their phone that had vibrated on the counter. “Jehan is telling me to let you sit down. Do you want to sit down?” Enjolras laughed.

“No, but thank you.” Grantaire typed something and locked their phone. “I don’t know… We don’t really know each other. I wouldn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable or anything.”

“You won’t. Just don’t try convincing me to join your cult and we’ll be fine.” They smiled. Enjolras almost snapped at them, but he remembered Combeferre asking him to take it easy with Grantaire and didn’t. “That was a joke. I happen to make lots of those. There you go. One more fact for you to add to your ‘things I now know about Grantaire’ list.” Enjolras wasn’t sure whether that was another joke or not, so he just nodded. “So, yeah, book recommendations.” Grantaire hummed. “That is something I can definitely give you. What genres are your favourite ones?”

“I’m not that big on fiction. I tend to prefer biographies or theory books. Philosophy, history, politics, social studies…” Enjolras confessed. For some reason everyone always rolled their eyes when he said that. As if it was a crime not to be a fan of fiction.

“Have you ever read Harry Potter?” Grantaire sounded scandalized, but their facial expression hadn’t changed. Enjolras nodded. “Good, I’m not going to have to start from scratch with you.” They hesitated for a while, Enjolras didn’t say a word. Grantaire’s eyes on him made him feel completely naked. “Yeah, no, I need to have something to work with…” Grantaire sighed. “I usually only give book recs after knowing something about the person, so we have to work on that. What’s your zodiac?”

“I’m a Capricorn.” Enjolras said, unsure. Grantaire hummed and nodded.

“I thought you were an Aries.”

“I have an Aries rising.” Enjolras said and shrugged. Grantaire raised an eyebrow.

“You’re into zodiac that much?” They laughed. “Didn’t think you would be.” Enjolras shook his head.

“Jehan is.” He explained and Grantaire nodded again.

They grabbed their phone again and typed something. “Hogwarts house?”

“I have no idea. That is actually an intensely discussed topic when everyone from the ABC start talking about Harry Potter. Some say I’m a Gryffindor, some say I’m a Slytherin… I have read the books and watched the movies, but that’s as far as I go.” Enjolras shrugged. Grantaire typed again. “Are you actually taking notes?”

“Pics or it didn’t happen.” Grantaire locked their phone, put it on the counter again and grinned, looking at Enjolras, who just rolled his eyes. “Are you against taking notes?” Enjolras shook his head.

“I suppose it’s just… A bit weird? Taking notes in the middle of an informal conversation, I mean.” He said and shrugged again.

“I wasn’t.” Grantaire laughed. “I was hurrying Jehan because I’m hungry.” Enjolras nodded and didn’t open his mouth again. They stared at each other for a while, until Grantaire’s phone vibrated again. “Jehan will be out in a minute, they’re almost done.” They informed Enjolras, who just nodded. Grantaire didn’t let go of their phone, so Enjolras crossed his arms and examined his surroundings.

He wondered what it would be like to work with someone he couldn’t even keep a conversation going. He also wondered why he couldn’t keep a conversation going with Grantaire. Combeferre had told Enjolras that Grantaire was, apparently, a talkative person, but they weren’t like that around Enjolras. Maybe they needed time to get used to other people? Maybe they were the sort of person to whom first interactions mattered and to be completely honest Enjolras hadn’t been the nicest person when they first met. Grantaire, on the contrary, had.

Enjolras’ mind didn’t wander very far because it didn’t take Jehan and Cosette too long to get to them, glaring at Grantaire.

“You’re especially grumpy today, aren’t you, dear?” Jehan complained, Grantaire shrugged and grabbed their bag. “Well, we’re almost done. We just need to talk about the new employee’s salary.” Grantaire laughed bitterly, Jehan rolled their eyes. “Anyway, let’s go so Cosette doesn’t have to cover for both of us for too long.”

“No need to hurry, I’ll be fine here.” Cosette smiled at them and Jehan nodded.

“Grantaire and I usually eat at the same vegetarian place every time we have lunch together, it’s not very far from here. What do you think?” Jehan grabbed Enjolras’ arm and smiled at him while starting to walk.

“Sounds lovely to me. I think Combeferre mentioned that place to me once. Is it the one who looks like a house?”  Enjolras let Jehan take him.

“The blue one, yes, it’s really good.”  Jehan looked at Grantaire, who just shrugged.

“Grantaire, you don’t really seem to like the idea of someone else being hired.” Enjolras tried to make conversation, but felt Jehan tense up a little bit. Grantaire sighed.

“It’s not that I’m opposed to the idea. I just think Jehan and Cosette are worrying too much about something they shouldn’t. Firstly because I’m fine doing the whole thing alone, it’s not too much work or anything and the amount they pay me is honestly enough for me for now.” They walked a bit faster to be beside Jehan. “But also because I really don’t mind them paying me a little bit less if they really insist on the whole hiring someone else idea.”

“R, we’ve talked about this already. It’s not fair to just change your salary out of nowhere. You’re filling in two functions and getting paid for just one of them, honey, we don’t think it’s fair.” Jehan’s voice was steady and firm, in a way Enjolras had never heard it. “Is that why you’re that grumpy today, honey?”

“I just don’t think you two should be stressing so much over something that is not that big of a deal, that’s all.” Grantaire shrugged and Jehan held their hand. “And hiring people is a pain in the ass, Cosette would always tell me it was a blessing that Joly had told you I needed a job.” Jehan giggled. “What?”

“About that, we already have someone on hold. We’d just need you two to talk a bit about the work before we officially hire him. So it won’t be annoying to any of us, no need to worry about that.” The three of them stopped in front of the restaurant. Enjolras found it looked pretty cosy, just like Combeferre had described it to him.

“Oh…” Grantaire let go of Jehan’s hand and turned to Enjolras. “You can either get your food and pay it, so they charge you by its weight, or ask for a specific dish over there.” They pointed to a certain direction and Enjolras nodded. “Do I know the person?”

“It’s Enjolras.” Jehan chuckled. Enjolras could have sworn he saw Grantaire glare at Jehan for a second. “Which is good since we all know him already. You two just need to sit down and talk about things, come up with a schedule that is good for both of you. And, of course, you’ll have to be patient with him until he learns the whole system, but I’m pretty sure it’ll work out just fine.” Jehan was looking at Enjolras and smiling.

For some reason it didn’t seem like Grantaire had enjoyed the idea, but Jehan was their boss, more than just their friend, so even if that was true, they would probably keep their complaints unspoken. Enjolras didn’t really know what to say. All that was weird for him. He had grown up without ever needing to find a job and he couldn’t help but feel weird to be asking his friend to hire him so bluntly.

Jehan and Cosette could tell him thousands of times that they were indeed wanting to hire someone, it still made him feel weird. And Enjolras knew that deep inside his friends were just trying to help him through his own stubbornness, but it felt off.

“So, would you like to go out for coffee someday so we can discuss things, or?” Enjolras asked. They sat at a table by a window because Jehan mentioned they enjoyed looking outside while they ate. Grantaire nodded. “When are you free?”

“Any day is fine, to be honest. This week is actually a good and quiet one, so.” Grantaire took a broccoli to their mouth.

“So what about Wednesday?” Enjolras looked away; it was weird to stare at people while they were eating. “I could come by the shop when your shift is done.”

“You don’t have to, we could just meet somewhere.” Grantaire clearly hadn’t swallowed everything that was in their mouth and, for some reason, that made Enjolras smile lightly. “We could meet at the coffee shop Chetta works at. You know, supporting local business, tipping your friends .”

“Sound good to me. I’ll just need the address; maybe you could text it to me on Wednesday?” It was Enjolras’ turn to eat something. Grantaire chocked on their food and Jehan gave them their glass of water, giggling.

“Thanks.” Grantaire coughed and drank a little bit. They took their phone out of their pocket, unlocked it and handed over to Enjolras. “I’ll need your phone number for that.” Enjolras smiled, got his own phone and handed it to Grantaire, before taking Grantaire’s.

“Would you mind giving me yours too?” Enjolras asked and started typing. Grantaire nodded.

“In case I forget to text you?” Grantaire joked and Jehan hit R lightly with their elbow. “What did you do that for?”

“You’re being bitter.” They shrugged and kissed R’s cheek. “No need to.” Grantaire laughed, kissed Jehan’s cheek back and got back to putting their number into Enjolras’ phone.

“Actually I just like keeping my contacts organised and I usually don’t answer numbers I don’t have added on my phone.” Enjolras answered smiling and giving Grantaire their phone back. Grantaire did the same. “Do you like frogs?” Enjolras looked at the frog emoji Grantaire had added after his nickname ‘R’ and then looked at Grantaire, who was laughing.

“I like Pepes. Those frogs that the internet is crazy about, you know? But there aren’t any Pepe emojis, so I just put the frog.” They took another bite of their food and Enjolras nodded. “Jehan likes frogs, though. Don’t you?” Grantaire said, forcing Jehan to join the conversation.

Eventually the conversation switched to Jehan’s love for flowers, so they spent the rest of the time talking about that. When they finished eating Enjolras thanked them for letting him join them for lunch, to which Jehan responded rolling their eyes and kissing him on the cheek. Grantaire simply laughed and waved goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so,,,,, that was it.  
> i hope you liked this chapter :D leave a comment if u did or a kudo or idk pal do u ya know  
> next chapter will be up,,,,,,,,,,,,,, at some point (no, listen, it WILL BE; i have up to chapter 9 complete, just not beta-ed!!!! [ok they might have some details missing, but shrug emoji] and i'll be done with ch 10 pretty soon i believe i hope i pray dasçlkdksd)
> 
> once again, consider buying me a coffee and supporting my writing and my creative stuff: ko-fi.com/playlandi  
> if you wanna talk to me outside of ao3 my social media are:  
> main instagram & main twitter: @playlandi  
> main tumblr and yt channel: @marsisnotcreative  
> les mis tumblr: @whensunscollide  
> side/cosplay ig: @enjolmars  
> side twitter: @thenotesaresour


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